- The East Mediterranean includes Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Israel. It is a typical transition zone between the Saharo-Arabian desert biome and temperate climates. A total of 304 halophytic taxa from 50 families belonging to 172 genera are distributed in the region. The families with the highest number of taxa are; Chenopodiaceae (51 taxa-16.78 %), Poaceae (44 taxa-14.47 %), Asteraceae (23 taxa-7.57 %), Fabaceae (22 taxa-7.24 %), Cyperaceae (17 taxa-5.59 %) and Plumbaginaceae (13 taxa-4.28 %) respectively. They constitute 55.93 % of the halophytes distributed in the East Mediterranean. The genera with the highest number of species are; Limonium (13), Juncus (11), Atriplex, Salsola (8 each), Suaeda (7), Tamarix, Plantago, Silene (6 each) and Euphorbia, Centaurium, Bromus (5 each). Out of 304 taxa 9 are endemics, 24 are rare plants, 16 taxa are vulnerable, 9 taxa endangered, 6 taxa critical and two taxa have lower risk. These taxa can be grouped as; Xerophytes (79), Psammohalophytes (73), Hygrohalophytes (68), Halophytes (56), Xerohalophytes (22) and ruderals (6). Out of the halophyte taxa listed 124 taxa (40.79 %) are of economic importance. The most widely used parts of the plants are leaves (28.24 %) and roots (21.18 %). The most common preparation of the traditional folk medicine is decoction (42.55 %), followed by infusion (11.70 %), poultice (10.64 %) and powder (8.51 %). In addition to these some plants are consumed fresh for the treatment of some ailments, their percentage lies around 10.64, but consumption as cooked meal is 8.51 %. A majority of these plants are used for the treatment of urinary system disorders (21.74 %). Many halophytic species are used as either forage or fodder, even as ornamentals, but some are poisonous. These taxa play an important role in the control of soil erosion. They are also used to clean contaminated soils and water. Similarly Cynodon dactylon, Ruppia maritima and Inula crithmoides can be used to produce biomass through biosaline agriculture.
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